Magazine filling mechanism



Dec. l l2, 1944.

Y N. v. KUEHLMAN MAGAZINE FILLING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 25, 1942 INVENTOR. /l/orm an K /fae/ma/rr Dec. 12, 1944. N. v. KUEHLMAN MAGAZINE FILLING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 25, 1942 m Nm Dec. 12, 1944. N, v KUEHLMAN v2,364,797

MAGAZINE FILLING MEcHANIsM Filed Aug. 25, 1942 4v Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 12, 1944. N, v KUEHLMAN 2,364,797

MAGAZINE FILLING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 25, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I I a* 1% AHORA/Em Pltented Dec. 12, 1944 MAGAZINE FILLING MECHANISM Norman V. Kuehlman, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor A to The National Lock Washer Company, Newark, N. J.. a corporation of New Jersey original application July 1o, 1941-, serial No.

Divided and this application August 25. 1942, Serial No. 456,043

5 Claims.

This is a. division of my application Ser. No. 401,804 led July 10, 1941 and issued as Patent No. 2,333,940, November 9, 1943. The invention herein described is for a device for lling successive magazines or quills, which magazines or quills are adapted to hold assemblies of bolt blanks and washers or the like. The invention is shown as embodied in a device for receivingv and holding bolt blanks and split-ring lock washers but may be adapted for receiving and storing other devices than these.

The invention is shown as embodied in an assembly machine designed to assemble splitring lock washers on bolt blanks, but those skilled in the art will recognize that it may be used in other devices and mechanisms.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the magazine lling mechanism combined with an assembly machine, only part of which is illustrated.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the quill support.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the locking gate at one end of the quill.

Fig. 4 is a right section taken through 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an end view of what is shown in Fig. 3. l Fig. 6 is a section through 6-6 of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a section through I--l of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a section through 8-8 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the driving mechanism for the assembly device and control switches.

Fig. l is a side elevation of what is shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a diagram of the electric circuit for the quill shifting mechanism.

Fig. 12 is a perspective of part of a thread rolling machine and a. quill in place thereon.

Fig. 13 is an end view of a quill adapter of a thread rolling machine.

Fig. 14 is a side view of a quill adapted for a thread rolling machine.

In the illustrated arrangement, assemblies, comprising in this embodiment of the invention bolt blanks and split-ring lock washers, are discharged into quills or magazines |09. Each quill includes a pair of parallel angles .which form tracks as shown at ||0 and (Fig. 4)* 'I'hese are secured by suitable screws ||3 to a base I I4 extending the length of the quill. A top guide I I5, supported on suitable yokesl I I6, fastened to and spaced along the base ||4, is preferablyadjustable vertically by means of bolts in relation to the top of the tracks I|0 and III to allow for different thicknesses of blank heads and washers.

Pivotally mounted on one end of each quill or magazine is a pivoting gate I|1 made in the form of a yoke straddling the top guide II5 and pivoted thereto on bolt ||8. A pin ||9 `limits the upward movement of gate ||1. A pin IIB projects outwardly from the side of gate I |1 and its function will be described hereafter. When a quill is in position on the quill holder, the open end will be near the end of the discharge track |02 and the closed. end, carrying gate near the opposite end thereof.

When a quill is removed from the assembly machine, the gate II'I will be held by gravity in the closed position shown in Fig. 3 and will prevent the assemblies from sliding out from that end of the quill.

A quill shifter and support is shown in Figs. 2, "I, and 8 and comprises a long, channelshaped framework |20 upon which a pair of quills are designed to vrest side by side.' The left end of this framework, as viewed in Fig. 2, Iis equipped with a stop |2I, against which the gate end of the quills may be placed. The quill support is pivoted on pin |22 (Fig. 8) carried by a ixed arm |21. On framework |20 above pin |22 is a cross arm |23 with three lugs |24, |25, and |26 thereon, between vwhich a pair of quills may be placed. The right end of the quill support, as seen in Fig. 2, is equipped with a similar cross arm |28 with lugs |29, |30, and |3I, between which the right end of the pair 'of quills may rest. A pair of ears |32 and |33 on arm.|28 are adapted to slide on a suitable track |34 and give support to this end of the quill carrier |20.

In operation, the quill support is designed to carry two quills resting thereon on arms |23 and |28 between the lugs arranged on these arms. When the machine is rst put in operation, one of the empty quills is positioned in alignment with thedischarge track |02 and, when this quill is lled, the quill support automatically shifts the empty quill over in alignment with the track |02 and the full quill may then be removed and replaced with an empty one. When the second quill is lled, the quill support is designed to shift back so that the empty quill, which replaced the rst full quill, will then be in alignment with the track |02. This movement of the quill support is accomplished by means of a. double solenoid |35, the plunger of which, shown at |36, is connected by a suitable rod |31 to the under side of the quill support I -Without stopping the assembly mechanism shown at A, this is done by means of a nger |38 (Fig. 6) which is mounted on a plvoted arm |39 so as to be superimposed above the track |02 and, when depressed, movesdown to tracks |03 and |04. The right end of pivot member |39 is loaded by a coil spring |40 tending to pull this end of the member |39 downwardly, as seen in the iig- Vure, and thus raise the finger |38 which is attached to the opposite end of member |39. An arm |40 is designed to engage the under side of arm |39 and limit its downward movement on the spring side thereof. A solenoid |4| is connected by a suitable rod |42 to member |39 between finger 38 and the pivot point |43. The operation of this solenoid will hereafter be described in detail. It will be sufiicient to say at this point that immediately before the solenoid |35 is energized to move the quill support either in one direction or the other, the solenoid |4| is energized and moves the stop finger |38 downwardly to the track |02 and thus momentarily arrests the gravity flow of assemblies. As soon as the quill support has moved and the empty quill has taken its position at the end of track |02, the solenoid |4| is deenergized and spring |40 moves finger |38 upwardly and thus the assemblies are released to ow down into the empty quill.

The mechanism for controlling the shifting of the quill support is shown in Figs. 9 and 10 and includes cams operated from shaft 810 on which the assembly device A is mounted. At that end of shaft 80 which is opposite to the end upon which the assembly device is mounted, a pinion |55 meshes with gear |56 on shaft |51. Shaft |51 is' mounted on suitable bearings |59 and |59 and carries a worm |60 designed to mesh with a worm wheel I6i, which is on a transverse shaft |62 which operates in bearings |63 and |63. On the shaft |62 are mounted four cams |65, |66, |68, and |69 designed to close spring loaded electric switches |10, |1|, and |12. The last two cams are mounted 180 apart on disk |61.

The assembly device A and the cam control mechanism for the quill shifter are both mounted or connected to shaft 90 which carried in suitable bearings 8| and 82. The construction and operation of one form of an assembly device such as that herein called an assembly wheel are described. in detail and claimed in applicants Patent No. 2,333,940, issued November 9, 1943. A worm wheel 83 keyed to shaft 80 is adapted to be driven by a worm 84 mounted on a shaft 85 supported in bearings 86 and 81. Shaft 85 carries a. handwheel 88 in one end thereof and adl jacent thereto a pulley 89 over which runs a belt 90 which is connected to a pulley 9| on the drive shaft of electric motor 92.

Fig. l1 shows the electric circuit diagram for the quill shifting mechanism. Power lines are shown at 220 and 22|. 'I'hese may be connected into any suitable source of power. A handswitch 222 serves to connect and disconnect the electrical part of the quill shifting mechanism with or from the source of power. Shaft |62 is geared to assembly wheel A through suitable reduction gears, as shown in Fig. 9. The 'shaft carries .cams lss, res, lss, and lss. cam lss operates electric switch |10. Cam |66 operates switch |1|, and cams |68 and-|69 alternately operate switch |12 on rotation of shaft |62. Switch i12 is connected in series by wire 223 with solenoid |4| and to the power line 220 by wire 224i. The other side of solenoid |4| is connected by wires 225 to power line 22|. It will thus be seen that solenoid |4| is activated when switch i12 is closed and this is accomplished by cams |69 and |69, twice in each revolution of shaft |62.

Shaft |62 is so geared to assembly wheel A that enough blank assemblies are permitted to 'move past the stop finger |38 to fill one quill and then switch |12 is closed. The solenoid 63| pulls down the finger |38 to arrest the iiow of assentioly blanks from the discharge track of the assembly mechanism into the quill.

Switch |1I, which is designed to be closed by cam |66, is connected in series by wire 225 with coil |35a of double solenoid |35. The other side of this coil is connected to the power line 229 by Wire 221. When cam |66 closes switch E19, coil |35a is activated and moves the quill support from one side to the other. Coil |3512, which forms the other side of the double solenoid |35, is connected in series with switch |10 through Wire 228 and the other side of the coil is connected to Ithe power line 22| through wire 229. The other side of switch |10 is connected to power line 220 by wire 239. In Fig. 11, switch E19 is shown closed so that coil i351: of solenoid E35r is activated.

The gear ratio between shaft 99 and shaft 62 is such that 99 assemblies are permitted to slide into an empty quill and then, through the medium of the timing mechanism, solenoid 35 is energized so as to shift the quill support to take the filled quill out of alignment with the dis- -charge track |02 and bring the empty quill into alignment therewith. The stop nger E39 is de pressed shortly before andcdxring the shifting operation by solenoid Iii and subsequently released. This is accomplished by the above described timing mechanismYa Figs. 12, 13, and 14 show quill adapter 235 bolted to a thread rolling machine 236 by means of bolts 231.

A full quill |09 is shown inserted in the quill adapter 235 so that the track |10 of the quill is lined up with track 238 of the thread rolling machine. The quill consists of two angulariy disposed members 239 and 240 joined together and braced by means of support 29|. Member 239 has a channel 232 (Fig. 13) on the upper surface thereof.

Projecting over the edge of this channel are strips 243 and 244 attached to member 233 by bolts 246. The channel and strips form a guide way adapted to receive quill |09. Secured to the upper side of strip 234 is a right angle arm 245. This may be held in place by bolt 246.

Secured to the top of member 245 and projecting at right angles therefrom is a spring iinn ger 241 which is designed to engage pin |19 of the quill gate H1, so as to cause said gate to open -by pivoting about bolt IIS when the quill |09 is forced downwardly into the quill adapter 235. Pin ||9 on the guard ||5 will limit the upward movement of the gate H1. When the gate ||1 is moved upwardly as seen in Fig. 12, the blank assemblies are closed by gravity from the quill |09 onto the track 239 of the thread rolling machine.

In operating the assembly machinefin corrjunction with a number of thread rolling machines, it has been found convenient for the operator of the assembly machine to remove the full quills and hang them on a convenient rack where they can be readily obtained by the operator of the thread rolling machines. When a quill is hanging on a rack, the open end will be upward and the gate I l1 will be closed. When the thread rolling machine operator wishes to insert another quill, it is only necessary for him to remove the empty one from the quill adapter v and insert a new one, gate foremost, therein. As

the quill is pressed down into its final resting place in the adapter, the spring 2li? opens the gate ll and the assemblies iiow into the thread rolling machine. In this manner, the cycle of operation may continue, with the operator ofthe assembly machine filling the empty quills an-d placing them on a suitable rack or other receptacle for the use oi? operator of a thread rolling machine, and the latter in turn returning the empty quills to the operator of the assembly machine.

While I have shown the invention as embodied in a specific form, it isto be understood that various changes in details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a machine having assembly means for assembling washers on headed articles, the combination of a discharge track, a quill support adapted to hold a pair of quills, side by side, a pivot for said support intermediate the ends thereof, a solenoid for moving said support about said pivot so as to bring the open ends of quills on said support alternately into registry with the end of said discharge track, solenoid-operated means for arresting the flow of assemblies along said discharge track, and means for activating both solenoids each time a predetermined num- -ber of assemblies have been made by the mawill function each time said assembly means has put together a predetermined number of assemblies.

3. In a machine having assembly means for assembling washers on headed articles, the combination of a discharge track, a quill support for a plurality of quills, a solenoid for moving said support in relation to the end of said discharge track to bring the ends of successive quills into registry with the end of said track, a solenoidoperated arm for arresting the flow of assemblies along said discharge track, switches for controlling electric current to said solenoids, means connected to the assembly means for closing said switches so as to close them each time said assembly means has assembled a predetermined number oi* washers and articles.

Il. In a machine having assembly means for assembling Washers on headed articles, the coinbination of a discharge track, a solenoid-operated arm for arresting the flow of assemblies along said discharge track, a quill support forA a plurality of quills, a solenoid for moving said quill support in relation to the end of said discharge track to bring the ends of successive quills into registry with the end of said track, switches for controlling the flow of current to said solenoid, mechanical means operatively connected to the assembly means for operating said switches to cause said solenoid to function each time the assembly means has assembled approximately the number of assemblies which will fill a quill.

5. In a machine having assembly means for assembling washers on headed articles, the combination of a discharge track, a quill support adapted to receive a pair of quills side by side, a pivot for said support, a pair of solenoids adapted to move it in one direction and then in the other so as to bring the ends of alternate quills into registry with the end of said discharge track, means for arresting the ow of assemblies along said discharge track, switches i'or controlling the ilow of current to said solenoids, cams for closing said switches and adapted to close a switch each time the assembly wheel has assembled approximately the number of assemblies which will illl a quill, means for operatively connecting said cams and said assembling means,

and means for synchronizing said arresting means on the discharge track with the movement of said quill support so that the discharge of assemblies from said track is stopped during movement of said support.

NORMAN V. KUEHLMAN. 

